Stories from Wednesday, August 5, 2020

U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) introduced legislation to reduce the backlog of pending Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability claims by expanding eligibility for health care providers who are allowed to conduct the required medical exam for veterans applying for benefits...

ARKids gives away backpacks to school kids.

Harrisburg's Ross Heeb was recently selected to the 2020 Best Under The Sun football team. Heeb had a standout senior season in helping lead the Hornets to a 7-4 record and a trip to the Class 3A state playoffs. On offense, Heeb finished with 1,315 total yards. ...

Southern Bancorp Trumann recently donated masks to the Trumann Fire Department. Trumann Fire Chief Revis Kemper (center) accepts the masks from Southern Bancorp's David Johnson (left) and Paul McAnally (right). (Photo provided)

Southland Gin, Delta Farms, Craighead Electric Cooperative and Today's Power, Inc. (TPI) developed the first agricultural energy project in Arkansas combining two different solar technologies (fixed-tilt and single-axis tracking) plus on-site battery energy storage...

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will accept applications for its private land dove hunting program August 1-15 for five private fields throughout the state. The following locations and dates are available for the 2020 hunt drawing: Greene County (60 acres of sunflowers) - September 5-6, September 12-13, September 19-20 (20 permits available per weekend). ...

Arkansas State University-Newport’s Fall 2020 term will begin August 24, 2020. This is a one-week postponement from the originally planned start date of August 17, 2020. With this postponement, students, faculty and staff will have more time to prepare for the upcoming semester. ...

Poinsett County is scheduled for commodity distribution on Wednesday August 12, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. until noon or until food supplies are gone. The Distribution will be a Drive Through. There will be three places for pickup of commodities: Marked Tree Fire Station at 102 Liberty, Trumann Sports Complex at 16179 Pecan Grove Rd, and Weiner City Hall at 123 W. 2nd...

Conita was born on March 30, 1938, in Lepanto to Coleman and Nita Jernigan. “Conita” is a combination of her parent’s names. Later in life, her nieces, nephews and friends began calling her “CoCo”. She was a Christian and of the Baptist faith. She graduated from Lepanto High School in 1955. In 1959 she graduated from The University of Arkansas with a BA Degree in Sociology and Government. Her Elementary Education Certification was from Texas Tech University...

The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas announced a $3,000 grant from The Darden Foundation to help provide hunger-relief to Northeast Arkansas families. The funds will be used to distribute nutritious food to individuals at risk of hunger in the food bank’s twelve-county service area. The food bank works in conjunction with Feeding America, every dollar donated to the Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas can help provide four meals...

Harrisburg Elementary School EAST (Education Accelerated by Service and Technology) Program was awarded an EAST Upgrade Grant for the upcoming 2020-21 school year. The $10,000 grant will be used to buy technology and equipment to use in the Elementary EAST Program. ...

Representative Rick Crawford (AR-01) along with Representative Steve Cohen (TN-09) have introduced the Critical Infrastructure Employee Protection Act of 2020. This legislation requires the Department of Transportation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to coordinate to ensure that critical infrastructure workers have access to Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19 testing...

The Cooperative Extension Service has been serving the people of Arkansas, from agricultural communities in rural areas to school children in the cities, for more than 100 years, through good times and bad. Our current era, in which we all face serious health risks from the COVID-19 virus, is no different...

Heston Qualls of Trumann was surprised with a Make A Wish parade this past Sunday in Bay. Qualls has been battling recurring medulloblastoma . His wish was a Marvel themed golf cart. He got his wish Sunday. Qualls was joined by 250 friends and neighbors for the parade that had motorcycles, classic cars, hot rods, ATVs, fire trucks and police cars...

The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is urging owners of hooved animals to closely monitor their animals and comply with all animal movement restrictions issued in response to the recent confirmed finding of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) infection in three horses on a premise in Benton County, Arkansas. The Arkansas Department of Agriculture (Department) issued an alert and implemented animal movement restrictions immediately after federal confirmation of the VSV infection on July 27...

Poinsett County has had 173 active cases with 46 cases still being active. There have been 124 recoveries, three deaths and 2,522 negative tests.